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Mobile broadband still lagging in Philippines but I guess you already knew that right?

MANILA–While mobile broadband growth has outstripped fixed broadband penetration in the Philippines, telecom executives are baffled that the country still lags behind its neighbors in terms of wireless broadband adoption.

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At the Philippine Telecom International Summit 2009 held here Friday, Jaikishan Rajaraman, senior director for services at GSM Association (GSMA), said it was interesting to note that the country only has “less than a million” users despite having launched 3G service three years ago.

“I’m curious to know the reasons as to why the adoption of mobile broadband has lagged behind here,” said Rajaraman, in a press briefing after his presentation at the regional forum organized by research firm Frost & Sullivan.

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The GSMA official then solicited answers from local reporters, who said Filipinos were still reluctant to use their 3G phones to connect to the Web due to cost and speed factors.

Leading landline operator PLDT and its mobile subsidiary, Smart Communication, have a combined broadband subscriber base of 1.2 million. About 700,000 of these use Smart Bro, which is comprised of fixed and wireless–via USB dongles–broadband users.

Main rival Globe Telecom, on the other hand, has 379,000 broadband subscribers, of which 180,000 are subscribers of its Globe Tattoo wireless plugin broadband service.

Another market player, Sun Cellular, has also rolled out its fixed and wireless broadband services but its subscriber base is still just a few thousands, and nowhere near the numbers of Smart and Globe.
While wireless broadband adoption–in the form of USB dongles or plugins–has surpassed fixed broadband in the Philippines, the use of 3G phones as a mobile broadband tool has yet to take off.
Nitin Bhat, Asia Pacific senior vice president for ICT practice at Frost & Sullivan, said during his presentation that the growth of mobile broadband has been impressive, but the challenges of fixed broadband economics are beginning to emerge.

Bhat pointed to the cutthroat pricing models and huge data traffic, particularly video, as two factors that may inhibit the proliferation of wireless broadband in the Philippines.

GSMA’s Rajaraman, however, said the impact of mobile broadband in emerging markets is “deeply transformative”, noting that remote areas now have the chance to harness the power of the Internet like their urban counterparts.

An organization that oversees the interest of GSM suppliers and operators, GSMA champions mobile broadband access via 3G, particularly HSPA (high speed packet access) technology, rather than wireless broadband platforms such as WiMax.

Rajaraman said there is often too much hype over the span of WiMax network coverage. “It’s also not cheap [and] that’s why there are very few users around the world. WiMax will have a hard time catching up [to 3G],” he said.  Read the original article here    http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,62059187,00.htm

Google’s gift: Free WiFi in 47 airports, what about the Philippines hehe

Now if we could get Google or SMART or GLOBE to do the same at our airports here in the Philippines

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Google is planning to foot the bill for WiFi at 47 of the nation’s airports for the rest of the year, beginning Tuesday.With some travelers spending more time on the ground in airports than on planes during the busy flying season, now seemed an especially fitting time to offer up the perk, Google said.

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The list includes the international airports in Miami and Orlando, which are among the world’s 30 busiest airports, as well as five others in Florida. Travelers through smaller airports, such as Montana’s Billings and Bozeman, will also benefit.

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“This is one of our holiday gifts to our users, and when you connect, we also hope you’ll take the opportunity to try some of the latest Google products,” the company said in a statement.

Upon signing in, users will be asked if they want to set Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) as their homepage or try the Google Chrome browser.The company is also running a charity campaign to raise money for three nonprofit groups: Engineers without Borders, One Economy Corporation and Climate Savers Computing Initiative. When Google WiFi users first log on, the landing page will offer them the option of donating to the organizations. Google will match donations of up to $250,000 per airport.

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Google has inked other free WiFi deals. It already offers free wireless Internet to its hometown of Mountain View, Calif., and last month it partnered with Virgin America to give the airline’s customers free access to Gogo’s Inflight Internet.

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Both the airport WiFi deal and the Virgin America arrangement will end Jan. 15, after the holiday rush subsides.

 

While Google’s move to offer free wireless in airports is an original twist, several companies are already running similar sponsorship campaigns on domestic flights.

E-commerce giant eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) said it will provide free WiFi through Gogo on more than 250 domestic Delta Airline flights during the busiest travel week of the year, over the Thanksgiving holiday. From Nov. 24-30, flyers who log in will be taken to eBay’s holiday-themed homepage and invited to “complete your holiday shopping while still en-route to your Thanksgiving destination.”

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Car maker Lexus wrapped up one week of complimentary Internet on American Airlines flights on Friday. The promotion coincided with the introduction of the 2010 Lexus LS line
http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/10/technology/Google_free_wifi_airports/index.htm

The Droid has landed in USA Which Phone Is Better: Droid or the Eris? Go With the Droid!

Which Phone Is Better: Droid or the Eris? Go With the Droid!

We’ve been hearing about the Droid for weeks, getting screen shots and teasers, reviews and comparisons. Finally, it’s come out to play! While many have spent countless hours fantasizing about the joys and uses of such a phone (or maybe that was just me), time for mental window shopping is officially over and now it’s time to buy.

 

(For anyone who’s had their head buried in the sand for the last month, the Droid is the latest smartphone running on Google’s Android platform and is expected to be a big challenger to Apple’s iPhone.)

But what’s this? Verizon has launched two different Droids? With so much hype going to the Motorola Droid, it’s almost easy to overlook the second Droid phone, HTC’s Droid Eris, which also launched this week. It’s like a younger sibling standing in the shadow, but with the price tag of only $99.99 (after $100 mail-in rebate), it’s bound to catch the attention of many price-conscious buyers. Using Android 1.5, the Droid Eris might not have the same oomph as its older sibling (Motorola operates on Android 2.0). However, it’s still packed with many solid Android features.

Like many phone buying Americans, my budget is tighter than the average consumer’s pants after Thanksgiving dinner. With two Droids to choose from, I had a bit of a mental tug-of-war as to which one to buy. Picking out the calling plan was easy, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that no matter which Droid I chose, it was going to save me money. Like other smartphones, both Droids require the purchase of a data plan (about $29) on top of the regular calling plan. But unlike other Verizon phones where customers might choose to go with a more expensive premium plans for unlimited use of such features as VCAST and VZ Navigator, both Droid phones make the purchase of a premium plan unnecessary. Motorola’s Droid comes preinstalled with Google Maps Navigation, and both the Motorola and the HTC come with a marketplace where you can find a variety of apps for music and videos – many which are free. This means that you can go with a cheaper Verizon calling plan and still get all the bells and whistles, instead of having to go with a higher costing premium plans.

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Is the Droid coming to Asia and the Philippines?
According to a conversation in facebook, the PR executive of Starhub, a Singapore telco has confirmed that they’re in talks with Motorola

 

“We’re actually in talks with Motorola right now to bring in the Motorola Droid. Right now, discussions are still ongoing but rest assured ..”

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After picking out the calling plan, I was left to decide which Droid I was going to make mine. Since the launch caught me on a week that I was feeling particularly frugal, I opted for the smaller price tag of the HTC Droid Eris. As the first day meet and greet with my new phone went on, I could feel buyers remorse lingering around the back of my mind and I seriously questioned if I should have spent the extra $100, purchasing the Motorola Droid instead.

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I curse Verizon for launching the two Droids at the same time, because my brain will not stop with the constant comparison. History has been filled with plenty of famous siblings: Julia and Eric, Michael and Janet, Bart and Maggie… Each one bringing their own talents to the table and star worthy in their own right. Put them under the same spotlight and it’s easy to see which one shines, but it’s only once you separate them that you begin to appreciate that each offers their own gifts. I decided I was being unfair and needed to pretend that Eris’ sexy sibling didn’t exist and to let this younger sibling show off a bit.

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HTC headlines the Eris’ customizable features and touts it as the “perfect weekend, travel or pure play phone.” Since I was taking a weekend roadtrip, I decided to put my phone to the test. What I found is that Eris does offer a lot of customizable fun. For example, the seven screens that you can easily scroll through are easily modified to your liking. I was able to organize my social networks, favorite people, and favorite apps all in groupings on different screens.

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Listening to and organizing music on Eris is also easy. I browsed music through the Amazon mp3 app and since I already had an Amazon account, purchasing was just a one step process. Once on your phone you can take a song and crop it however you like and make it your main (or specific contact) ringtone.

Another thing I might mention, for those who like to mix business with pleasure, Eris comes preinstalled with Quickoffice, a PDF viewer, the ability to sync with POP3 email accounts, and it will let you keep current with corporate mail and such with Microsoft Exchange Active Sync.

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Despite the Droid Eris’ many playful features and business tools, there are a few minor idiosyncrasies that might have me returning my purchase and shelling out the extra money for the sexy sibling (who I am supposed to be ignoring right now.)

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The first obvious frustration for me is the lack of a physical key board. My previous phone, the LG enV Touch, spoiled me with its keyboard, making texting something I could almost do with my eyes closed. The Droid Eris offers a touch screen with a virtual keyboard. Though I’ve never been accused of having pudgy fingers, the sensitive and cramped keys make me feel like my fingers have been retaining water like a camel.

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It could also be said that dialing on the Eris is a little too easy. Just ask my boyfriend who received four accidental phone calls in a row while he was in a meeting! Since it only requires one touch to set a phone call into motion, a steady hand and small fingers would be needed to select and dial the correct person on the first try.
Another disappointment is the lack of the Google Maps Navigation, which only runs on Android 2.0. True, I was able to find a cheap GPS app for my Droid Eris, but it is primitive in comparison to Google’s app. In order to install an app almost comparable to the Google’s, I would have been required to spend between $30 and $85 and doing that would have rendered my original frugality pointless.

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In the end, because of the simultaneous launch date it is hard not to compare the two phones. During the purchase process of my phone the salesperson indicated that the Eris would be upgradeable to 2.0, but they were unable to say when. If this proves to be the case, then perhaps at some future date the upgrade might close the gap of difference between the phones. Until then, those who expect the Eris to be a Mini-me of the Motorola droid are going to be disappointed. However, those who keep in mind that these phones are brothers from another mother or sisters from a different mister, will understand that they’ve inherited different traits.

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I am still undecided as to whether I will try and upgrade to a Motoroa Droid, or keep my Eris and bank the money saved. I’m sure I’ll enjoy my Eris should I keep it…. but I can’t help but feel that I’m missing out on the full Droid experience. It’s like that song from Sesame Street, a song from my childhood, that sings “One of these things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn’t belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others by the time I finish my song….”   Read the complete original article here http://www.nytimes.com/external/venturebeat/2009/11/09/09venturebeat-which-phone-is-better-droid-or-the-eris-go-w-70222.html

Review: Motorola’s Droid is a serious smart phone
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/176327/review-motorolas-droid-is-a-serious-smart-phoneInitial Motorola Droid sales look good

http://reviews.cnet.com/android-atlas/?tag=nl.e404

Slacker Radio on the Motorola Droid.

http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-10391764-251.html

What the Droid doesn’t do!
http://iphonehelp.in/2009/11/10/iphone-3gs-versus-motorola-verizon-droid/

 

Top 10 (Must Have) iPhone Apps for Bloggers

The folks at wpbeginner.com have put together a list of Top 10 Must Have iPhone Apps for Bloggers.
1.  WordPress for iPhone
2.  Shape Writer
3.  Twitterific
4.  EverNote
5.  Jott for iPhone
6.  Byline
7.  Omnifocus
8.  Fring for iPhone
9.  Pixel Pipe
10.  Air Sharing

For more info, check out the link below…It has detail on these programs and graphics as well

http://www.wpbeginner.com/showcase/top-10-must-have-iphone-apps-for-bloggers/

And make sure you read my  IPhone blog http://iphonephilippines.blogspot.com/

Philippine Fuel supply only for 8 -13 days Consumers may face oil supply shortage in two weeks

 

Fuel supply only for 8 -13 days

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THE government might end up shooting itself in the foot if it continues to maintain a hard stance in maintaining the oil price-freeze mandate President Arroyo issued through Executive Order (EO) 839.
This, after the Department of Energy (DOE) said on Monday the country is left with only eight to 13 days’ supply of refined gasoline and diesel products

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In an industry stakeholders’ meeting, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said the DOE’s inventory estimates stand anywhere from eight to 13 days, and the average inventory for the year had been 21 days.

“After 13 days, we will run out of refined gasoline and diesel products. And the inventory of crude will have to be refined into gasoline and diesel,” he admitted.  Continue reading here http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/18347-fuel-supply-only-for-8-13-days.html

Consumers may face oil supply shortage in two weeks 11/09/2009 | 10:37 PM

MoreIn just two weeks, consumers in Luzon – including those in Metro Manila – may soon face an oil supply shortage that may either lead to rationing or a price surge. Moreover, the fuel price cap and rising costs of oil in the world market, oil companies will be forced to sell at a loss.

These were among the scenarios earlier forecast by experts if the government fails to revoke Executive Order (EO) 839, a presidential edict that puts a ceiling on fuel prices.

The same order instructs oil companies to sell their products at P4.50 to P5 per liter lower than their “true” costs or if prices would be based on international oil market.

As a result, some service stations have continued to experience “intermittent” shortages two weeks after the price cap’s imposition, an oil industry source said.   Continue Reading here http://www.gmanews.tv/story/176604/consumers-may-face-oil-supply-shortage-in-two-weeks

 

 

Cruise Ships on Steroids

WHEN MANUEL FRAZAO CLIMBED aboard his most recent cruise, the first thing he did was take off his shoes. But the New Britain, Conn., retiree wasn’t prepping for the pool or testing a new seasickness remedy. He just wanted to feel the grass between his toes.Frazao’s feet were planted in the “Lawn Club,” a half-acre of living grass growing atop the Celebrity Solstice-which, with its $700 million price tag, is one of the most expensive and biggest cruise ships on record. Complete with its own irrigation system and full-time groundskeeper, this perfectly manicured carpet is being touted as a prime spot for passengers to spend an afternoon picnicking, playing croquet or just lying around, watching the waves-that is, when it’s not being mowed.  (article continues below scroll down to read)

 

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Also read about the biggest cruise ship  Five times bigger than Titanic, world’s largest cruise ship sails for US port & Jobs available http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/five-times-bigger-than-titanic-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-sails-for-us-port/

Read some other of my blogs here on Philippine Travel

 

UNIQUE ADVENTURE PHILIPPINE TRAVEL
http://uniquephilippines.blogspot.com/

Boracay Philippines Travel Tips
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/boracay-philippines-travel-tips/

Good prices Boracay Beach Resorts And Hotels
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/07/25/207/

BAGUIO on P500 a day? Summer Capital of the Philippines
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/baguio-on-p500-a-day-summer-capital-of-the-philippines/

Cheap promo vacations packages in Boracay, Bohol, Manila Philippines
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/cheap-vacations-packages-in-boracay-bohol-manila/

Helpful Tips For Cebu Pacific Passengers (Philippines)
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/helpful-tips-for-cebu-pacific-passengers-philippines/

Top 5 Beaches in the Philippines
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/top-5-beaches-in-the-philippines/

Transportation in the Philippines, Air, Land, Sea
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/07/09/transportation-in-the-philippines-air-land-sea/

Philippines – RP in National Geographic’s 25 Best New Travel Destinations in
the World for 2010; Ancient Cultures, Structures and Biodiversity Cited
http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/philippines-rp-in-national-geographics-25-best-new-travel-destinations-in-the-world-for-2010-ancient-cultures-structures-and-biodiversity-cited/

CEBU PACIFIC AIRLINES
http://mycebupacific.blogspot.com/

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES
http://uniquephilippines.blogspot.com/
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Looks like somebody forgot to tell the cruise companies about the recession. While the rest of the travel industry struggles to keep its head above water, the cruise lines keep cramming those big boats with so many over-the-top extras, it’s a wonder they stay afloat. Sayonara, shuffleboard-the latest onboard diversions include Scandinavian-style ice bars and zip lines, while foodies can pick from 24 dining options on a single ship. Not enough wow factor? How about the world’s first “moving bar at sea,” which pogos back and forth between three decks like a booze-slinging elevator. And to hold all these frills, the ships themselves are bigger than ever; Royal Caribbean leads the size wars with a trio of 3,600-passenger ships but will top itself this year with Oasis of the Seas,
a 5,400-passenger behemoth just launched on its maiden voyage.A travel slump might seem like a strange time to supersize. After all, Royal Caribbean [RCL] and Carnival Cruise Lines [CCL], which together command 75 percent of the market, foresee per-cabin revenue drops of 14 for 2009. To fill cabins, the industry has cut fares by about 20 percent this year. But companies ordered these colossal ships several years ago, when the $25 billion vacation-at-sea business was still one of the fastest-growing stars in the travel universe. Cruise lines assumed they’d be profit machines-providing economies of scale while accommodating thousands more free-spending cruisers.

 

Now it’s far from clear how well the new giants will fare with consumers. Their efforts to one-up each other with splashy features, for example, have hit some choppy waters. (One ship tried towing a blimp behind it-and lost the blimp at sea.) Those lawns and water parks can mean less space for traditional amenities. And passengers wonder just how often they’ll be pulling out their wallets as cruise lines significantly expand onboard charges (typically about a quarter of their total revenue) to boost their bottom line. Indeed, the new boats are packed with pay-to-play options like specialty restaurants, adult-only pools and even once-gratis items like late-night room service. “They’re creating more opportunities for you to spend money,” says Ross Klein, author of Paradise Lost at Sea: Rethinking Cruise Vacations.

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As the number of annual cruisers has more than tripled over the past two decades, ships have grown almost as dramatically. In 2004, Cunard Cruise Line launched the then-biggest-ever Queen Mary 2 (capacity: 2,600), whose many luxuries include a Canyon Ranch spa. That ship surrendered her top-dog tiara two years later to Royal Caribbean’s three 3,600-passenger Freedom-class vessels. At over 160,000 gross tons, each boasts more than triple the mass of the Titanic and includes entertainment like ice rinks, wave simulators for surfing and boxing ring
But the biggest and most outrageous is still to come. Royal Caribbean’s $1.2 billion Oasis of the Seas is a leviathan, boasting 220,000 gross tons, 2,700 staterooms, 16 decks, 19 bars and 23 restaurants. A virtual floating city, the ship includes seven “neighborhoods,” among them Central Park, which has a living garden with a horticulturist teaching gardening techniques; the largest-ever on-ship pool (at 18 feet deep, perfect for diving exhibitions); and a Coney Island-style boardwalk complete with a carousel.

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The logistics behind some of these new features would baffle NASA. Passengers playing bocce on the grass of the Celebrity Solstice’s Lawn Club might be surprised to learn that, according to project manager David Callahan, creating their patch of green required two architecture firms and a team of irrigation specialists and soil scientists. The grass had to be able to tolerate extremes of temperature, salt and wind, while the area underneath had to be sturdy enough to support the soil but not so heavy as to upset the ship’s balance. Once installed, new challenges emerged, including brown spots and scruffy patches; heavy foot traffic was so hard on one lawn section, says Callahan, they had to cover it with a platform.

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Of course, with the more than $4 billion cruise companies have sunk into these projects, passengers may find themselves dinged with charges at every turn. Nearly half of Oasis’s 23 restaurants require an additional fee, with the cover charge at 150 Central Park, the ship’s signature eatery, hitting an industry high of $35 per person. The ship will also have the line’s first nursery for pre-toddlers, charging $8 an hour per child so that parents can take part in activities like a $250 in-pool scuba course. While entertainment charges have traditionally been taboo, Norwegian Cruise Line will require a $15 fee for its Cirque du Soleil-style dinner show on the Epic, a ship launching next year. NCL is also considering selling a “Velvet Rope” package, which would offer VIP treatment at onboard nightclubs. “This is how a hotel on top of the water is operated,” says an NCL spokesperson, pointing out that many restaurants and activities are still free. “Go to the W and you don’t get any of that.”

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Not that cruise charges are new; there will just be many more of them. And as Bill Belt recently discovered, they add up quickly. At first, the Dallas-based labor consultant and his wife, Lois, thought they’d scored a deal on their Holland America Lines cruise to South America-about $2,000 each before a cabin upgrade. But then came the onboard extras. They racked up a $300 Internet charge, $20 a bag for laundry, $100 worth of photos, a few meals in the specialty restaurants at $50 a pop-not to mention salon visits, drinks and gratuities. In all, the Belts’ tab climbed to about $5,000. “When you get that final bill,” says Belt, “you say to yourself, ‘What in heaven was I thinking?’”

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Adding new features can also have unintended consequences. On the Celebrity Solstice, for instance, accommodating the lawn meant less space for deck chairs-already a common cruise complaint. So on the line’s newest ship, not only will there be an additional 100 lounges; “pool butlers” will troll for chair hogs and help track down open seats. Other passengers, like Rosalie Beasley of Leonardtown, Md., fear that bigger ships will just mean more shortages of amenities. On a recent NCL cruise, Beasley found that the specialty restaurants were always booked, leaving her stranded without a reservation.

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For the moment, plummeting revenue seems to have curtailed major new ship orders. And most cruise companies are focusing on stabilizing fares and making their current fleet more user-friendly. Royal Caribbean, for one, says it’s adding more online booking options for Oasis, so passengers can reserve show tickets and make spa and dining reservations earlier. Other lines are running voucher promotions to ease the pain of onboard fees. But some travelers, like Mary Scrivanich, a pet sitter from Flanders, N.J., have found their own way around the added costs. On the 16 cruises she’s taken, she hasn’t once set foot in an entrance-fee restaurant. “If it’s not in my
budget,” says   Read the original article here
http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/travel/cruise-ships-on-steroids/?page=2

Medical Apps for the iPhone

Last week, I spoke at the TED MED conference. It’s like the much higher-profile TED conference (you can read about it on my blog), but under different management and, of course, dedicated to healthcare topics.

My assignment was to speak for 18 minutes (the standard talk length) about medical apps for the Apple iPhone. Sounds easy, right? Only one problem: there are about 7,000 medical apps.

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Also read

Top 20 Free iPhone Apps for Entrepreneurs On-The-Go

http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/10/27/top-20-free-iphone-apps-for-entrepreneurs-on-the-go/

TOP FREE IPHONE APPS BEST FREE IPHONE APPS Highest Rated iPhone Apps NEWEST LATEST IPHONE APPLICATIONS TOP RANKED http://philippinestuff.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/top-free-iphone-apps-best-free-iphone-apps-highest-rated-iphone-apps-newest-latest-iphone-applications-top-ranked/

And the IPhone blog http://iphonephilippines.blogspot.com/

 

 

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After a lot of time reading “best medical apps” stories online, asking Twitter users for their suggestions and reading online reviews, I finally boiled the list down to about 50 promising apps. I tried them out and further winnowed the list to a bunch that I ultimately demo’ed in my talk. Eventually, the video of the talk will be posted at ted.com/talks, but in the meantime, here’s what I covered.

(I haven’t really given them full-blown testing, so read the online reviews before you spend good money on them. Except for the free ones—you’ve got nothing to lose!)

FOR PATIENTS:
* JetLag RX. You input your travel destination, your usual bedtime and so on. The app recommends a schedule for eating, sleeping and exposure to light in order to land in the new time zone with a minimum of jet lag, based on modern jet-lag research. (Not yet available in the iTunes app store; $10)
* Uhear. Clever, self-administered test for hearing loss. (Free)
* SoundAMP. Turns the iPhone into a hearing aid. Amplifies and processes voices to make them clearer. Even has a 30-second replay button that can save you from having to say “What?” so often. ($9.99)
* ProLoQuo2Go. I read about this one in The Times. It’s a speech synthesizer for patients who have trouble speaking; you tap big fat icons to put sentences together. You can also save common phrases into a special Quick Set. For an app, the price is shockingly high. But its competition is an $8,000 PC-based system that’s decidedly not mobile. ($190)

* Period Tracker, Period Tracker Companion. The title says it all. This little app helps women predict the onset of each month’s period, and wirelessly syncs with the man’s app (Companion) so that he can know exactly when “to be a little extra nice and special.” (Lite version, free; Companion, $1)

* Lose It! This beautifully designed weight-loss app has an astounding number of followers, if the outpouring of enthusiasm on Twitter is any indication. You tap to record everything you eat. It’s actually kind of fun, because the program contains every food item you can imagine, including brand-name packaged food and restaurant-chain menus. For each one, the app lists the complete nutritional information.

You also indicate what exercise you get each day, using a similarly complete list of activities. Finally, you tap in your weight each day. Probably because the app focuses you so well on staying true to your goals, its fans say it truly works. (Free)

* Eyeglasses. As an over-40-year-old, I’ve become addicted to this app. It simply turns the iPhone 3GS into a magnifying glass. Hold it in front of some tiny type—on a menu, a receipt, a ticket, a medicine bottle—and Eyeglasses, after a moment of autofocusing, shows you a magnified version of it on the screen. Keeping your hand steady is tough, and the 6X and 8X images sort of fall apart—but the 2X and 4X views have saved me more than once. ($3)

* Retina. It’s for color-blind people like me. You hold it in front of something—clothes in your closet, for example—and it tells you by name what color you’re seeing. I love this one more for the concept than the execution; it says black is “too dark” and white is “too bright,” for example, and it really needs more differentiation between various *degrees* of red or whatever. Tinted room light (of the sort that requires white-balance adjustments on a camera) can flummox it. But as an early example of an “augmented reality” app, it’s very exciting. (Free)

FOR DOCTORS:* OsiriX. An amazing viewer of medical images (X-rays, scans of all sort). Drag with one finger to adjust brightness or contrast. Zoom in, rotate. Special modes let you measure some element (tumor, fracture, etc.) with either a circle or a line that you draw with two fingers. Syncs with a special image server at the hospital. ($20)
* Anatomy Lab. A virtual cadaver. Drag up or down with two fingers to peel away (or restore) another thin layer of the photo, down to the organs and beyond. Or choose from a list of body parts and jump directly, revealing that exposed part. Grisly and amazing. ($10)
* Epocrates. Another Twitter favorite. Like an electronic version of the huge Physicians’ Desk Reference book. Tap in two or more medications, and it warns you of cross side effects. Tap in the description of a pill (hexagonal, yellow, inscription), and it tells you what the medicine is, and all about it. This much, plus a medical calculator (body mass, etc.) is free; paid versions offer even more instant information for the physician. (Free)
* AirStrip OB. Lets an obstetrician monitor a patient’s status, right down to the baby’s heartbeat, from elsewhere in the hospital (or the town). Requires that the AirStrip fetal software suite be installed at the hospital. A good hint at the kind of remote monitoring that may be possible. (Free)

 

 

Read the full original article here http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue-email.html?_r=1&em=&pagewanted=print

Nokia to Replace 14 Million Chargers

 

Nokia will replace 14 million cell phone chargers made by China’s BYD Co Ltd as chargers could fall apart and expose consumers to risk of electrical shock.

“We are undertaking this exchange program as a proactive, precautionary measure. We are not aware of any incidents or injuries relating to these three (models of) chargers,” said Nokia spokesman Doug Dawson.

The world’s largest cell phone maker Nokia said BYD would cover all costs from replacement. An average charger sales price to phone manufacturers is around $1.

“The plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger’s internal components and potentially posing an electrical shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket,” the Finnish firm said.

BYD spokeswoman Jasmine Huang said the company would issue statement later on the replacement.

“During internal tests, we found the chargers could have some problems,” Huang told Reuters.
Nokia said BYD chargers AC-3E and AC-3U, manufactured between June 15 and August 9, and AC-4U, manufactured between April 13 and October 25 would be replaced.

Nokia said it recommends consumers with chargers within the scope of this exchange program to stop using the charger and exchange it for a free replacement.  Read the original article here http://www.cnbc.com/id/33783182

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Refining the Twitter Explosion

DOES Twitter have a T.M.I. problem?

And, no, I don’t just mean the Twitter users who share too much information about their lives, social, medical or otherwise.

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Simply put, there is way too much information on Twitter — lately, it defies navigation. In January, there were 2.4 million tweets a day, according to Alessio Signorini, a researcher at the University of Iowa. By October, he reports, there were 26 million tweets a day.

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Why should we care about information overload at Twitter? Isn’t Twitter about the individual experiences — a Tweeter and her followers — not the totality of millions of Tweeters around the world?

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Read all the latest news on Twitter and twittering at my blog http://twitterph.blogspot.com/

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Perhaps this is true for most users. But the promise of Twitter — the reason Google and Microsoft have paid to be able to search millions of Tweets — is that it gives the best approximation of the pulse of the world: How popular is the new iPhone? Did Kanye West make a spectacle of himself at an awards show? Or, more ominously, what is it like when there is a shooter loose on an Army post?  Continue reading this article at http://twitterph.blogspot.com/